Wild Blueberry Muffins
interpreted from ‘Stalking the Wild Asparagus’

2 c. flour (I mixed 1 1/2 c. AP + 1/2 c. whole wheat)
2 T. raw sugar (or sub regular or brown sugar)
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
scant 1 t. baking soda
1 can wild blueberries, rinsed and well drained (or ~ 1.5 – 2 c. fresh wild blueberries)*

2 T. butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 c. buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400.  Grease muffin tin.

Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together into a large mixing bowl.  Add blueberries, then gently mix to evenly coat the berries with the flour mixture, making sure to separate any clumps of berries.

Add melted butter, egg, and buttermilk, and gently mix until all ingredients are just wet.  Do not overmix!

Scoop mixture into muffin tin, filling half way.  Bake for 16-18 minutes, until tops are nicely browned.

Note:  wild blueberries are smaller and less juicy than domestic blueberries.  If you don’t have access to fresh wild blueberries, I’d recommend searching out high quality canned wild blueberries (check your local natural foods store)

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One of the things I remember most vividly from the summer I spent living in a tent in rural Alaska was how one could drive along a road for miles and not see a single other car.  Not all roads were like this, of course, but the older single-lane state highways often were.  The route between Wasilla and Knik is one of these desolate roads, and it also happened to be the where my camp was located.

The only ‘civilization’ I remember there being between where I was camped and the town 7 miles away was a tiny, unexpected drive-up coffee stand.  This stand in particular was pretty much in the middle of nowhere — there were no houses, no shops — just mile after mile of undeveloped land… and this drive-up coffee stand.  How the location was chosen, I’m not sure, but I can say I was glad to have it within a mile or two of my camp.

Since the days were long, and there weren’t many people around, sometimes I’d walk the mile and half or so from my camp to this drive-up coffee stand and visit with the woman who owned and ran it.  Besides being a kind soul and a joy to talk to, she made the most delicious blueberry muffins I have ever tasted!  What was her secret, I asked her once — ‘wild alaskan blueberries!’, she said.

For a week or two during the summer, she would get her son to run the coffee stand, and she would spend her days foraging wild blueberries (which are actually quite prevalent around that part of Alaska).  She would harvest hundreds of pounds (yes, hundreds of pounds), then either freeze or can them to use in her blueberry muffins for the rest of the year.   If only I had thought to ask for her recipe….

Anyhow, wild blueberries don’t grow around where I live (as far as I know), but in this case, canned wild blueberries will work just fine.  In fact, canned wild blueberries will work better than fresh domesticated blueberries;  usually I’m not one to use canned ingredients, but canned beans and canned wild blueberries are my exceptions.  If you are lucky enough to live in an area where you can forage wild blueberries, then you certainly should!  In fact, you might even want to follow the coffee-stand owner’s lead and forage enough to last you all year!

Strawberry and Blueberry Tart with Lemon Curd
Adapted from recipe at Epicurious.com

Curd
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

Crust
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or a mixture of AP and whole wheat pastry flour)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons (or more) chilled whipping cream
1 large egg yolk

2 pints of small, ripe strawberries, stem ends trimmed
1 – 2 c. blueberries
1/2 cup lemon marmalade (or sub strawberry jam)

For curd: Whisk eggs, sugar, and lemon juice in heavy small saucepan to blend. Add butter and lemon peel. Stir over medium heat until curd thickens to pudding consistency, about 8 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface of curd and chill at least 2 hours.

For crust: Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and stir to blend.  Add butter, and using either your hands or a pastry cutter, blend until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add whipping cream and egg yolk. Blend until moist clumps form, adding more cream by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap and chill 1 hour. (Curd and dough can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.)

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in and press firmly, forming double-thick sides. Pierce crust all over with fork; refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake crust until golden, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 20 minutes. Cool crust completely on rack.

Spread curd in crust. Stand berries in curd. Arrange blueberries between strawberries. Heat marmalade in a saucepan until thin.  Brush marmalade over berries. Chill tart until glaze sets, at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours. Release tart from pan

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I’ve always been one to focus more on the main course than dessert, hence, desserts have never been my specialty.  However, when summer comes around, fresh fruits, especially berries and stone fruit just *beg* to be made into something sugary and delicious — a delectable dessert, or perhaps a preserve

A couple weekends ago we had a get-together at our house that in theory should have had 5 attendees, but in reality had more like 17…  no worries though — my specialty is feeding people, even those who are unexpected…  I had prepared this tart as a dessert, expecting that I would take at least half of it to my co-workers on monday morning, but with everyone who showed up (unexpectedly), the tart was devoured and the plate licked clean before I had the chance to even consider saving any of it for later!

This tart (and pretty much all tarts for that matter) are great low-fuss desserts — they’re a wonderful way to showcase in-season fruit, they’re visually stunning, and more often than not, they’re very simple to make.  In addition, they can be partially to mostly made in advance, which is great if you’re like me and plan to make about 17 dishes when you really only have time to make 6.  With this one in particular, the crust and tart can be made 24-48 hours in advance, and the berries can be added anywhere from 1- 6 hours in advance (if you add them too far in advance they release too much liquid, they sink into the custard, and the tart becomes too liquid-y).

If you’re not fond of lemons or are just in the mood to experiment, I imagine you could make the curd with oranges instead, opening up a whole different world of flavor possibilities (I’m imagining chocolate in particular!).  Do you make tarts often?  What are your favorites?

This month I joined the Daring Bakers!  After drooling over the opera cake at Sugarlaws and Feeding Maybelle last month, I decided I would throw my hat into the ring and learn to bake something new.

And then…. I read this month’s challenge and questioned my decision — a Danish Braid? laminated dough? ahhh!  too hard!  too hard!  Anyhow, once I got over my initial trepidation, I got to baking, and bake I did!

Well, I guess I’m going to toot my own horn, because WOW — my Danish Braids turned out GREAT!  The dough was flaky, light, and perfectly golden brown when it came out of the oven.  Steven even deemed them ‘the best thing I’ve ever made‘!

The traditional filling is made from apples and vanilla, but since apples won’t be in season until the fall, I decided to go with a filling that reflects what is bountiful at the farmer’s market these days.  I had five early-season nectarines floating around my kitchen, so i decided to use those as the base for the filling.  It was my original intention that the filling would be entirely nectarine, but I came up woefully short of the three cups of diced fruit I needed for the nectarine butter.  So what to do??  Strawberries to the rescue!  Added to the nectarines, they made a delicious fruit butter.  Next time I would probably add more nectarines than strawberries, perhaps 2 to 1, or even more, as the nectarine flavor was a little masked by the vibrant berries, but overall, I certainly enjoyed the combination.

Anyhow, hundreds (perhaps thousands) of blogging foodies/bakers will be posting their versions of the Danish Braid today — I encourage you to check them out!  I centralized list of the daring bakers can be found at the Daring Baker’s Blogroll.

Nectarine and Strawberry Butter

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Nectarine & Strawberry Butter
Based on Nectarine Butter recipe from Rosey’s Preserves

5 small nectarines, pitted, chopped to make about 1.5 c
1 1/2 c. + 1/2 c. diced strawberries
1 1/4 c. sugar

Combine nectarines, 1 1/2 c. strawberries, and sugar in a heavy saucepan.  Cook at a gentle boil at medium heat for 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Take the pot off the stove and puree mixture with a hand blender until very smooth.

Cook another 25-30 minutes, stirring often, making sure that mixture does not burn on the bottom.  The butter will be ready when you place a small amount on a plate and no water seeps out. It should be rich, smooth and dark.  Mix in additional 1/2 c. strawberries. Butter will keep for at least one week.

Note:  if you would like to can the butter, omit the additional fresh strawberries, fill jars, and process according to manufacturer’s directions.

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DANISH DOUGH
Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed.  Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice.  Mix well.  Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated.  Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth.  You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky.  Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer:  Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk.  Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well.  Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain.  Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even.  Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain.  With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges.  When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes.  You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK
1.    Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free.  Set aside at room temperature.
2.    After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.  Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick.  The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour.  Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough.  Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter.  Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third.  The first turn has now been completed.  Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally.  Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3.    Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface.  The open ends should be to your right and left.  Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle.  Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third.  No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed.  Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4.    Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns.  Make sure you are keeping track of your turns.  Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight.  The Danish dough is now ready to be used.  If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it.  To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze.  Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling.  Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see above)

For the egg wash:  1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1.    Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.  On a lightly floured  surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick.  If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again.  Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2.    Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart.  Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3.    Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle.  Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover.  Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling.  This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished.  Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking
1.    Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid.  Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2.    Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3.    Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown.  Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature.  The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Chocolate Flecked Meringues
Adapted from basic meringue recipe at Chocolate & Zucchini
makes 12 large cookies

2 eggs whites
1/2 c. + 1T. natural sugar
scant 1/2 t. vanilla extract
~ 1T. finely chopped dark chocolate or cocoa nibs

Preheat oven to 285 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.

Whisk egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition until sugar is incorporated. Fold in vanilla, then chopped chocolate.

Using two spoons, drop golf ball sized dollops of the mixture onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes, then remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and allow to cool for an addition 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

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On the corner of 18th and Guerrero in San Francisco is Tartine, an amazing artisan bakery with some of the most delicious baked goods you’ll ever taste. On a typical weekend morning, the line stretches out the door and around the corner, almost always a sign that something delicious awaits…

I was there for breakfast not too long ago, and while waiting in line to order a ham, asparagus, and gruyere mini-quiche, I spotted some Rochers in the case — classic meringues dotted with cocoa nibs. Even though I’ve never been much of a meringue fan (usually far too sweet), these looked like they were to die for. At the last minute I added a Rocher to my order, and happily tucked it away to eat later in the day.

And let me tell you, it was seriously delicious! The outer section was crisp and airy, and the heart was scrumptiously gooey and dotted with earthy cocoa nibs. If I lived closer to Tartine, I would probably indulge at least a few times a week…

Then, I came across this basic meringue recipe on Chocolate & Zucchini, and a little light went on in my head, illuminating the fact that I could most certainly make these little chocolate-y pillows of goodness at home! And even more, I can count the number of ingredients on one hand (4), and the number of minutes they take to prepare on the other (about 5). So, clap your hands say… Rocher!

Along the bicycle path I sometimes take on my way to work there is a twenty foot long clump of wild mint, growing untamed, tended by no one, slowly edging out native grasses lining the pathway. Without too much rhyme or reason, some days the scent of mint in the air is incredibly strong; other days it is barely noticeable.

If you have a garden, I’d advise you to think twice before planting mint in the ground. In a container, by all means, go right ahead. You should be warned though, mint is incredibly hardy, and left unchecked, it spreads like a viral weed. It can take over a garden in a matter of months.

To think of mint as a weed is strange for me since I have such positive associations with the mint flavor: hot mint tea on a cold winter evening, mint chocolate ice cream after a successful piano recital as a child, mint tea with honey and lemon when I am feeling sick, to name a few. In my mind, mint is associated with healing and warmth.

But ask a gardener who has had to eradicate mint from a prized vegetable garden, and they certainly won’t have such warm, touchy-feely associations. They’ll probably tell you that a mint plant can regenerate from as little as a two inch root clipping, so you’d better make sure to get it all when you’re pulling it out of the ground. Perhaps its phenomenal re-growth capabilities are why it is so often associated with health and healing.

I’m currently reading Michael Pollan’s first book, Second Nature, on the suggestion of my friend Amanda. You may have heard Michael Pollan’s name before in the context of the popular and very relevant book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Second Nature is a funny, honest, and delightful tale of Pollan’s informal education as a gardener.

One of my favorite passages of the book (so far) discusses his dealings with a resilient woodchuck that sets up camp at the edge of the garden and begins systematically eating through the garden like an all you can eat lunch buffet. At first, Pollan’s efforts to eradicate the free-loader are fairly gentle and non-invasive, i.e. filling the borrow entrance with rocks and dirt and hoping the creature will simply go away. When this gentle approach doesn’t work, he moves on to harsher (and more comic) measures. Woodchucks apparently have impeccable hygiene and hate to dirty their coats. Using this knowledge, Pollan fills the burrow entry with a variety of sticky and gooey substances like cracked eggs, grease, and molasses. When these tactics fail, he decides to stuff a dead road-kill flattened woodchuck into the burrow entrance as a macabre warning (by now, he’s not joking around…). Even this morbid gesture fails to deter the woodchuck. Exasperated, he dumps a gallon of gasoline into the burrow, lights a match, and drops it in… This action gets fumbled though, and it does little more than explode in his face and singe his eyebrows.

I believe this is how a lot of gardeners feel about mint, minus some of Pollan’s visceral anger. Having spent multiple hours on the Stanford farm yanking mint from the ground, often with both hands, playing an intense tug-of-war with the soil, I can understand this feeling. Still though, I somehow hang on to that comforting, ‘touchy-feely’ association with mint (probably because I have memories of a huge peppermint plant in the garden of the house in which I grew up…)

One of the plants I played tug-of-war with on the Stanford farm I brought home and planted in a container on my front deck. Unsurprisingly, it has flourished, even with very little effort on my part. And I mean very little effort. In fact, I planted it and pretty much forgot about it. It mustn’t mind being left alone though, as it provides me with a steady supply of fresh mint in return for my zero effort. If you are looking for an easy ‘in’ to the herb world, planting mint might just be your ticket.

But back to the bicycle path. One day last week while riding past the wild mint clump, the scent in the air was remarkably strong. When I notice something remarkable, I try to continue with it for at least another thought or two. That morning my thoughts turned first to how the smell of mint reminds me of Christmas, then to my far-off dream of someday having my own micro-farm, and then to how to use fresh mint in a way I’ve never used it before in a recipe. Sweets were on the brain that morning, and I spent the final few minutes of my ride coming up with a tempting cookie combination–mint, chocolate, cherries, and oatmeal… mmmm……

The basis of this recipe comes from Epicurious, and I’m sure as written it would be delicious. With the addition of fresh mint though, the cookies are heavenly! Gooey, sweet, full-bodied, and even refreshing from the hint of mint. Mmmm…. they’re so good that after writing that last sentence I was obliged to get up, go into the kitchen, and eat two. Really though, they’re very easy to make, and are absolutely delicious. I might even go eat another… mmmm…

Gooey Chocolate Cherry Mint and Oatmeal Cookies
makes about 3 dozen

1 cup dried cherries (I used a mixture of tart and sweet)
1 cup very hot water (for soaking cherries)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 t. mint spirits or mint extract
1 cup old-fashioned oats (tip: oats are almost always sold in the bulk section of natural foods stores. Since it don’t use them on a regular basis, I buy only as much as I need from the bulk bin)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 T chopped fresh mint

Place dried cherries in a bowl and cover with 1 c. very hot water. Allow to soak for 15 minutes to plump up. Drain, coarsely chop, and set aside.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat (if either are available). Sift flour, baking soda and salt into medium bowl. Beat butter, sugar and brown sugar in large bowl until well blended. Mix in egg and both extracts. Beat in flour mixture. Mix in oats, then chocolate chips, reserved cherries and mint.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies about 15 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Cool cookies on baking sheets for about 3-5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. Repeat until all of the dough is used up.